Bushwick Food Co-op

温尼伯大亚愽国际app下载学’s Busola Olaniyan interviewed Nick Farr, a member of the Bushwick Food Co-op in Brooklyn, as she was in New York to present at a Masters in Development Practice conference. Farr talks about the decision making process at the Bushwick Food Co-op.

布什威克（Bushwick）和许多合作社一样，是100％的成员所有，其职责被分解为经营“杂货店供应商”购买产品，安排员工并找到与社区互动的新方法的日常角色，正在运行亚愽娱乐app由采购委员会。当需要重大的方向决定时，会在股东大会上咨询会员资格。在做出最终决定之前，每个成员的意见都会收到公平的受众。

Farr provided an example of when a freezer broke down, the sourcing committee went ahead and purchased a new $3000 one, as it is a vital part of day to day operations. If the store required massive renovations, this motion would have to go through several membership meetings before a final plan of action was established. A finance committee is in place to manage the fiscal operations and advise other committees as needed. Bushwick also has a board of directors who meet to insure the health and welfare of employees are addressed and that everything is up to code. It’s a system that involves trust, teamwork and respect for not only each other but the community they serve. At the end of the day each decision made, is made, with the communities best interests at its heart.

产品

“By supporting local agriculture, I think if everyone knows how to farm their own food, they can figure out how to sustain themselves based on what is available. I think if everyone in the world did that, we would end one of those problems.” –Nick Farr’s response to the topic of poverty and food insecurity

布什威克出售的大部分东西都是有机种植的，这意味着没有转基因的生物（GMO）。该产品是由本地（Bushwick将本地定义为250英里之内）采购从新洋子地区的其他供应商采购的。布什威克将避免与任何有社会，环境或劳动问题的公司开展业务。除了其他许多食品合作社一样，除了食品灌木丛之外，还出售诸如天然绿色肥皂，防晒霜，可回收垃圾袋或椰子油基除臭剂等产品。他们试图使所有人都可以使用。While some food co-ops only sell to members, Bushwicks sells to non-members and prices are 75% markup (so if a tomatoes cost them $1 you’d pay $1.75) whereas if you’re a member you’d only pay 24% markup which is much less than what grocery stores charge.

Simply put Bushwick’s goal is more than just selling grass-fed beef or vegan friendly milk; its goal is to offer both its members and community a healthy and affordable locally sourced alternative to the standard fare that Grocery Stores offer.

亚愽娱乐app

当我们问法尔先生是什么将布什威克与纽约其他食品商店分开的是什么，他的回答是“大多数地方，我们是大多数成员可以步行到的唯一食品合作社。其他食品合作社更远。”

Buskwick wasn’t a food co-op overnight; they originally started off as a Buy in Club where they’d meet once a month, this eventually led to them acquiring a store front, which was only open three days of the week. Currently the co-op is open 6 days a week (soon to be open every day) and has evolved to match the community needs both economically and socially. Bushwick is serves as a resource for community development; from small things such as a providing a meeting spot to larger issues like soliciting help for a social cause or requesting members to help in completing a project.

“我们没有在合作社和社区之间存在分界线的地步。亚愽娱乐app社区只是亚愽娱乐app将合作社用作另一种资源。”尼克·法尔（Nick Farr）参加了布什威克（Bushwick）参与。

尼克给了我们两个例子，布什威克和社区齐心协力。亚愽娱乐app第一个例子是，布什威克总统还经营着一个无家可归的庇护所，该庇护所得到了他们从当地购买的当地生产商的面团支持。布什威克定期向无家可归者庇护所赠送农产品。另一个例子是布什威克（Bushwick）通过定期为他们下降堆肥来支持当地的青年堆肥计划。

“任何通过程序来找我们的人，我们都会说是的，如果我们有能力这样做。”- 尼克·法尔（Nick Farr）

操作

如前所述，布什威克（Bushwick）拥有几个委员会，每个委员会都承担个人责任和一个民主制度，对所有重大决定投票。这不是可以导致不同类型的挑战的典型业务模型。非传统层次结构的挑战之一是，并非所有政策都以常规杂货店的方式正式化。最初只是假设成员的某些事情较少，从未写下或最终确定，但是随着成员的成长，布什威克已经意识到，这些政策需要正式化并写下，因此成员之间没有混淆。当某人在传统的杂货店被雇用时，他们通常没有与在那里呆了更长时间的人相似的投入水平。但是，一旦某人是成员，他们的投票就和其他所有投票一样重要。这意味着合作社需要同时调整其运营，以适应会员的疑虑，并确保所有政策都已更新，以便会员清楚地了解适当的程序。Farr认为这是为食品合作而工作的最大挑战，解释了即使是简单的任务如何累积并花费了很多时间。一个例子是写支票，他可以训练其他人这样做，但是完成这项工作需要十倍。法尔先生牺牲了很多个人时间来接受这项培训，并认为布什威克必须前进的必要条件。

“I enjoy meeting people that share my values, I enjoy when I have moments of satisfaction when I have accomplished a task, but they are kind of fleeting because when you accomplish something, there is always a next thing and there is a never ending series of next things”. –Nick Farr